Shoes, including athletic shoes, work boots, dress shoes, ski boots, overshoes, and all manner of footwear, provide poor traction on many surfaces, including slippery, icy, and wet surfaces. The difficulties of moving across a slippery surface, including walking, running, and jogging, result in inconvenience and injury. Slips, falls, and resultant injuries are typically caused by a lack of good footing. And even if a person does not actually fall, the need to walk slowly or with small steps over a slippery surface is inconvenient, slows movement, and is a distraction that interferes with a person's ability to be aware of their surroundings and to be alert to non-slip hazards.
The inconvenience of walking on slippery surfaces interferes with businesses that require outdoor work to be done when conditions are icy. Postal and parcel delivery, for instance, is hampered, as well as baggage handling, road repair, ambulance and emergency work, police work, and any outdoor work that cannot be stopped for inclement weather.
Runners, joggers, and persons that exercise outdoors are hampered by the loss of traction on slippery surfaces. For example, even if outdoor surfaces are slightly slippery, a jogger must take smaller strides to avoid slipping. Activities that require movement faster than a slow walk are greatly hindered in inclement conditions by a lack of suitable footwear.
Further, even the knowledge that roads and sidewalks are slippery can be detrimental. The knowledge that outdoor walking conditions are hazardous may discourage persons from engaging in normal activities. For instance, a person is more likely to choose not to walk to a store, to take a pet for a walk, or otherwise leave home if the person knows that walking conditions are slippery.
This problem is especially acute for the elderly or persons with disabilities that interfere with a standard gait. Many elderly persons experience impediments to walking that make them more likely to slip and fall under normal conditions; and in climates where snow and ice persists through a significant portion of the winter, some elderly persons become essentially home-bound. Similarly, a disability that causes an irregular gait may discourage a person from undertaking normal activities when outdoor walkways provide sub-par traction; for example, the loss of a leg may create an irregular gait that leads to added vulnerability to slipping.
Ideally, footwear that provides good traction in all weather would minimize the inconvenience of changing or removing shoes every time a person comes indoors. Further, a device that is versatile and works with many size shoes or foot-sizes is desirable so that a user, especially an organization that serves multiple persons, may stock a minimal number.